Jason Shapiro, a former attorney for Wael Ali, said Tuesday that Ali had relocated to Marietta, Ga., "excited to have his life back" after dealing with the death of Wasel Ali, his twin and closest friend.

He was back in school and "very optimistic about his future," Shapiro said, but Wael Ali's death sent the twins' family into mourning once more.

"This has been a tragedy for the mom and dad, if you can imagine what they had to go through," he said.

Family members held a funeral Tuesday for Wael in the Catonsville area, Shapiro said. They could not be reached for comment.

Ali's death also revives one of Howard County's most trying cold cases. Ali's trial resulted in a hung jury and a mistrial, which led to his release.

"As of today, the case is still open, but in light of recent events it will now be reviewed," Sherry Llewellyn, a Howard County police spokeswoman, said in an email Tuesday. "Wael Ali was still the primary suspect."

The body of 19-year-old Wasel Ali, was found on Aug. 27, 2007, in a wooded area of Columbia. The 2006 Wilde Lake High School graduate had suffered a neck injury and died of asphyxiation from pressure applied to his neck.

A subsequent investigation led police to question Wael Ali's involvement. The two had been in a fight shortly before Wasel went missing, authorities said. Investigators questioned the sincerity of some of Wael's statements afterward. By the time he was charged four years later, his family had relocated to Georgia. He returned there after his trial.

Officer David Baldwin, a spokesman for the Marietta police, said Ali was in the kitchen of the LazizaRestaurant in Marietta about 10:30 p.m. Friday. He was showing a gun he owned to the restaurant's owner, Raouf Sanad, a "very close family friend."

Sanad was allegedly "manipulating it and was not using good protocol" when the gun went off, and Ali was shot in the front of the neck, Baldwin said.

Two officers on routine foot patrol outside the restaurant responded, and "there were a number of witnesses there who corroborated that it was just a tragic accident," Baldwin said.

Sanad has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct and pointing a weapon at another person, Baldwin said.

Attempts to reach Sanad and his family were unsuccessful Tuesday.

Shapiro said the Ali family "lost both of their boys under very tragic circumstances," and criticized the Howard County police response to his death.

"To come out and say, 'The guy that just was tragically killed, the guy whose body they're lowering into the ground as we speak, is our No. 1 suspect, and so now we can close our case because he's dead,' is just poor timing on the police's part," Shapiro said.

For four hours, detectives turned to the one person closest to Wasel Ali, who could help them unravel why the 19-year-old had disappeared on Aug. 22, 2007, and why his body was found in a wooded area in Clary's Forest five days later.

Wael Ali's words and actions after his twin brother went missing 4 1/2 years ago were not just those of the last person to see Wasel Ali alive, prosecutors said in Howard County Circuit Court Tuesday. They were those of the first person to see Wasel Ali dead.